The Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) was the national database of DNA collected from known offenders and recovered from suspects, victims, and crime scenes.
“Whoever attacked her wasn’t in the system. Adele could have been his first victim.”
“Possibly.” Olivia nodded. “The sheriff’s department and Redhaven police now suspect that Shannon’s and Adele’s murders could be related.”
“Both women were raped, beaten, choked, and had zolpidem in their systems.” Sharp slid off the stool, deposited his bowl in the sink, and resumed his pacing.
“But how are their murders connected to Noah Carter’s?”
Shannon was connected to Noah through Justin O’Brien. But telling Olivia that felt like an overshare, so Sharp kept his mouth shut.
Her computer pinged again. Olivia narrowed her eyes like a cat that has just spotted a mouse. “I just received the surveillance footage from Beats for the night Shannon disappeared.”
Sharp rubbed his palms together. “Now you’re talking. We can see who interacted with her.”
He moved to go around the island so he could see her computer screen. Maybe she’d be distracted and he could sneak a peek at the name of her source.
She closed her laptop. “I can show the videos on the television. It’ll be easier to see. The screen is larger.”
“Good idea,” Sharp conceded.
She carried her laptop and wine into the next room, a cozy den. She set down the computer and glass, then turned on several lamps.
Sharp sat on the sofa. He leaned his forearms on his knees and waited. And sulked. Being on the favor-asking end of their relationship sucked.
Settling in a chair, she opened her laptop and angled it so that he couldn’t see the screen.
“I thought we were working together,” he said, frustrated.
“You’re holding back information from me.” Olivia arced a stubborn brow. “Don’t try to deny it. I can see your mind spinning, and yet you say nothing.”
“I have client confidentiality concerns.” Moral superiority lifted Sharp’s chin.
“And I have confidentiality concerns of my own. I do not have excellent sources because I’m careless with their identities. If you want to work with me, you’ll have to give me the same amount of professional respect you demand for yourself.”
“You’re right.” Sharp leaned back. She wasn’t going to put up with any of his bullshit. He was going to have to let go of his need to control everything, or he was going to end up with nothing. “I apologize.”
With a stiff bob of her head, Olivia started the first video. “This is the feed from the camera that covers the tables next to the dance floor.”
Nothing but static showed on the TV screen.
Sharp tossed her a good-faith tidbit. “The same camera wasn’t functioning the night Noah was killed.”
“The club is new. Glitches are to be expected, but it’s disappointing.” Olivia tapped on her keyboard. “Let’s try the video of the club entrance.”
Though slightly grainy on the big TV screen, the image of the front doors of the club began to roll.
Sharp settled back, his irritation with Olivia gone as he focused on the faces of the people arriving at Beats.
His instinct, honed by many years of investigation experience, began to tingle. Thirty minutes into the video, Sharp’s spine snapped straight.
“Isn’t that Noah Carter?” Olivia asked.
“Yes.” Sharp noted the location on the video. “Looks like the whole gang was at Beats that night, just like they said in their initial interview. There’s Noah, Chase, Isaac, Adam, and bingo—Justin.”
Sharp pulled out his phone and dialed Lance, but the call wouldn’t go through. Sharp sent him a text instead.
Justin had crossed paths with Shannon at Beats the night she went missing.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Lance steered the Town Car around a deep pothole in the road leading to Justin’s house. He was unable to avoid the next crater, and the car bounced over it. The car’s undercarriage scraped on a rise in the dirt, and he wished his Jeep’s windshield were fixed. Tall trees lined both sides of the road, casting deep shadows in the fading daylight.
Lance switched on the headlights. “I never like the coincidence of two murder cases so close together, but I never really expected to discover a link this strong between them.”
In the passenger seat, Morgan stretched her neck. “Me either, but for the first time, I’m encouraged about Haley’s case.”
Lance turned onto a skinny gravel driveway and drove a hundred yards. The headlights swept across a barnlike building. Time had faded the exterior to a color between brown and gray. Light seeped through blinds covering the windows, and a Toyota sat in front of the sliding double doors.
Lance parked next to Justin’s vehicle. “Looks like he’s home.”
They stepped out of the car. Lance doubted that the sun penetrated the thick forest even in the daytime. In early evening, damp cold hung in the air. Moss grew between the trees, and a large patch of mold crept up the side of the building.
Morgan rounded the front of the vehicle and stood next to him. She hunched her shoulders against the chill. “I supposed artists like solitude.”
“Serial killers like privacy too.”
Morgan started up the walk, a loose row of broken slate that led from the parking area to the door. “The mere fact that Justin and Shannon were both at the inn at the same time does not make him a serial killer.”
“You’re right,” Lance said. His phone buzzed with a text. “It’s from Sharp. He says Justin was definitely at Beats the night Shannon was killed. Now that puts him at the top of our suspect list.”
They walked to the door and knocked. He didn’t see a peephole or a surveillance camera, but the big picture window provided a view of the front door. Justin would know who was standing on his stoop. The door rolled open. Justin slumped in the opening. Surprise lifted his chin. He obviously hadn’t looked through his window. Had he been expecting someone else?
Lance expected him to shut the door in their faces. That’s what he would have done if he’d been in Justin’s shoes.
“What do you want?” Justin asked. His eyes were red, and ruddy patches covered his face. He’d been crying.
“We have a few follow-up questions,” Morgan said. “It’ll only take a few minutes of your time.”
“I don’t know.” His eyes darting to the woods behind Lance and Morgan, Justin raised a hand to his mouth and bit off a chunk of fingernail. His twitchiness reminded Lance of a drug addict who needed his fix.
Had Lance read him wrong?
He scanned the dim room behind Justin. The inside of the house was as messy as the outside. Clothes, trash, and junk mail had been tossed at random. It appeared as if it had been ransacked, but Lance got the feeling that’s the way it looked all the time. Was Justin normally a slob, or was the neglectful state of his living conditions a sign of depression, drug addiction, or something else?
Justin’s face screwed up with resentment, and he folded his arms over his thin chest. He glared at Lance. “I don’t have to talk to you.”
And yet he’d opened the door when neither of his friends had.
“We know,” Morgan coaxed. “And we appreciate your cooperation.”
Lance waved a hand. “If you don’t want to meet with us, we can leave and take our concerns to the sheriff. Would you be more comfortable talking to Sheriff Colgate?”
Justin gave him an insolent stink eye. “Just ask your questions and go.”
Morgan lifted her tote strap higher onto her shoulder. “We learned that you were once accused of date rape.”
He froze, his mouth gaping. “The . . . the charges were dropped,” he stammered.
“But you were arrested.” Lance unzipped his jacket for quicker access to his weapon.
Justin’s gaze shifted to Lance. “How can you even know that? There was no trial or anything.”
“Arrest records for nonconvictions are supposed to be sealed in New York State, but that doesn’t always happen,” Lance explained. “Your lawyer should have followed up.”